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In 1718, the most famous pirate of the day, Edward "Blackbeard" Teach, was chased into a sandbar at Oracoke Inlet by Lieutenant Robert Maynard of the Royal Navy. Blackbeard's ship, the Queen Anne's Revenge, was immobile in the sand, so he boarded Maynard's ship with his crew to overtake them.

The Royal Navy crew had many sailors hiding below deck and when the pirates boarded, Blackbeard was shot several times at close range.

His head was removed and hung at the front of the ship as a warning to other pirates, as well as to collect the bounty. Legend has it that Blackbeard's body swam around the ship three times.

Today, the Underwater Archaeology Branch of the U.S. Coast Guard is excavating the shipwreck, and it has collected 280,000 artifacts including cannons and the anchor of the Revenge.